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This is intended to be mainly about my crafting stories, as a personal record of what I do. However, I interpret crafting quite widely, not just paper crafting but other things too. I have a butterfly mind and like to change from one thing to another depending on what I feel like on a given day - knitting, crochet, cross-stitch, cards, baking and several others, including my favourite right now, parchment, both traditional skills and Groovi, very relaxing and calming to do.

I have decided to put some structure into my blog so that each day will have something of a theme.
Monday- for Mindfulness; Tuesday - Tidy Up Day; Wednesday - What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday; Thursday - Technique and Tips; Friday - Finish Off Day; Saturday - Start Something New; Sunday - Anything Goes
These themes are not hard and fast and will be changed if I feel the need.

Tuesday 18 August 2015

Clarity Stamp Challenge 30 - Bingo!

When I first saw this challenge, my reaction was "what on earth"!  Then after reading the rules, I knew what I was aiming at and roughly what I was going to do.  All I had to decide was which line I was going to use.  My choice was straight across the centre - Stencil, Stamp, and Grunge Paste.


I chose to use the new stencil created for the Retreats this year, the Wee Fairies as my stamps, and Grunge Paste.  However, I wanted to add a twist of trying to get all this onto parchment.  This is the result.


I started with just a simple piece of parchment and drew the stencil through it to place the image in the right place.  The Wee Fairies were stamped onto old tracing paper and then flipped over so that I could trace them through on to the parchment, just where I wanted them.  I added a third sunflower to try for a bit of perspective.  I did most of the embossing before I pushed the Grunge Paste through the stencil.  I would have liked the paste to have been a little smoother, but then I got over that bit as it was "Grunge" after all.  The three sunflowers were painted with Fresco chalk paints, and the gaps in the stems were embossed on the parchment.
 

 The fairies took a long time to emboss on the parchment because I needed them to be as white as I could get them, and that can only be done by doing a little at a time and letting it rest before repeating the process.  I wanted them to look as ghostly and ethereal as I could get, so I spent about two weeks, just going back each day and doing a bit more until I got to the point where I felt that the parchment would give way if I pushed it any further.   You might also notice one or two elements from one of the Groovi plates.


I drew the hills in freehand and then coloured from the back using pastels.  Trying to keep the colour off the fairies was quite hard and also the shading of the sun/moon (your choice).

Attaching the final piece to the canvas board was complicated and involved some glue, all behind the Grunge Paste  but I also used the photo corner punch and mounted it on dark brown card.  I chose Smurf Fresco paint to colour the canvas board and attached everything with super sticky red tape.

I actually finished this a week ago, but was deliberating whether to add more paint as it looked a bit rough, but then I got over that too and left it grungy.  This is probably as grungy as I am comfortable with so I hope it all fits with the brief.  I had fun doing it anyway.

8 comments:

Debbie Rock said...

You've done good yet again Maggie! This is brilliant! Maggie + grunge = success!!!!! Love to you. xXx

carols handmade cards said...

All I can say this is a stunning piece of art work I am loving how you have used the grunge paste. Thank you for entering the challenge and the best of luck. Xx

Di said...

Oh squeal, Maggie from here - you totally rocked this challenge. Wonderful!!

Hugs

Di xx

Lynne Bishop said...

Well done Maggie. I love this stencil, a good choice for your design. Think I would have been very wary about grunge paste on parchment but it has worked. Good luck in the challenge. xx

Naomi said...

Maggie what a beautiful card. Super combination of the stamps and stencil. Good luck.

Lesley said...

Wow Maggie you have really spent some time on this card. The effect you have achieved is very pretty, a lovely fairy scene. Good luck in the Clarity challenge x

Angela said...

A lovely interpretation of this month's challenge Maggie. Your parchment work is beautiful. Thank you for joining us this month. Good luck! x

Shelagh Metselaar said...

Hi Maggie, I like how you have incorporated parchment, grunge and stamping to give such a different effect and such an amazing amount of time has gone into your project. Thank you for participating in this month's Clarity Challenge; wishing you success! ;~}